activation-policies

Local background of the social innovations Bern is trying to identity itself as a social and innovative city. Although it is the capital, Bern is only the fourth largest city in Switzerland. The head trio is Zurich, often identified as the financial capital, Geneva known for its banks and its numerous international organisation, and Basel,…

64.1. Short description Primano is a pre-school education programme targeting disadvantaged children and their families in selected districts. It started in 2007 with a home-visit programme. Bern was the first commune to implement a Dutch programme named Opstapje. The idea of a pre-school programme arose as school nurses noticed that some children had difficulties in…

65.1. Short description In the second half of the 1990s, Swiss cities started taking charge of the challenges of migrant integration. Until then, right populist parties were alone on this ground. Schönenberger and D’Amato (2009) attribute this change first to the growing heterogenisation and fragmentation of the social and urban structure, and to the arrival…

To conclude, we will highlight some characteristics of the selected innovations. Then we will review some conditions and challenges for the appearance and success of innovations in Bern. Characteristics of innovations in Bern: For Chambon and his team, the State can have three roles regarding innovation. It can be a barrier to social innovation or…

66.1. Short description The project for young mothers is a pilot project aiming to improve the employability of women between 16 and 25 years with young children, no professional training and dependent on social assistance. Although it is a typical case of a management programme aiming to motivate, this project has some innovative features. These…